Pronunciation and decoding exercises: \s\ vs \z\
The only difference betwen /s/ and /z/ is that /s/ is unvoiced and /z/ is voiced. See Voiced and unvoiced sounds. The letter "s" is used to spell most words with /z/ and many words with /s/. Many students who are able to pronounce correctly both sounds may struggle with decoding written words. For example, they may not be aware that goose doesn't rhyme with choose. More detail can be seen in Advanced decoding exercises: /s/ vs /z/. /s/ *with initial /s/: :*with "c": ceiling - cent - cinema - city :*with "s": :*with "sc": scene - scent - science ; *with final /s/: :*with "ce": advice - choice - dance - nice - once - twice :*with "s": bus - gas - this - yes ::as morpheme “-s” for words ending in /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, and /θ/: ::*plurals: chiefs - ducks - cups - students - months ::*third person singular: laughs - thinks - helps - gets ::*possessives: staff's - Mike's - troop's - Egypt's - Edith's :*with "se": dense - goose - house - loose - mouse - promise - release - tense :*with "ss": boss - class - kiss - mass - miss ; *in mid-position: :*with "c": cancel - concern - decide - receive - recent - society :*with "s": analysis - awesome - basic - fantasy - nuisance :*with "ss": assign - assume - lesson - missing - necessary - possible *homophones: C - sea - see; cell - sell; cent - scent - sent; cite - site - sight; scene - seen; /z/ *with initial /z/: zapping - zebra - zoo; *with final /z/: :*with "s": as - does - has - his - is - was ::morpheme “-s” ::*plurals: bugs - churches - dens - keys - phones - shoes - toys ::*third person singular: comes - drives - gives - knows - tells ::*possessives: Alice's - Bob's - Carol's - Dave's - Ethiopia's - Finland's - Germany's :*with "se": advise - browse - cheese - choose - lose - please - these - use - wise :*with "zz": buzz - jazz :*with "ze": breeze - freeze - sneeze *in mid-position: :*with "s": busy - cousin - desert - easy - houses - music - poison - present - president - prison - reason - visit :*with "ss": dessert - scissors :*with "z": crazy - lazy - razor :*with "zz": dizzy ; *homophones: browse - brows; nose - knows; size - sighs Minimal pairs At the beginning of the word *seal - zeal; - zoo; sync (shortening of "synchronize") - zinc; In mid position *lacy - lazy; precedent - president; racer - razor; At the end of the word *advice - advise; bus - buzz; face - phase; hiss - his; grace - graze; loose - lose; price - prize; race - raise; rice - rise; *second word is plural: ace - A's; arse - R's; base - bays; case - K's; cease - seas/C's; decrease - decrees; dense - dens; dose - doughs; else - L's; force - fours; ice - eyes/I's; juice - Jews; lice - lies; niece - knees; once - ones; peace/piece - peas/P's; race - rays; since - sins; spice - spies; tense - tens; trace - trays; versus - verses; *second word is third person singular: dice - dies; false - falls; gross - grows; lice - lies; place - plays; sacrifice - sacrifies; scarce - scares; *Only in BrE: brass - bras *Only in AmE: loss - laws Heteronyms *Noun is pronounced with /s/, verb is pronouced with /z/: abuse - excuse - house - use *close (adj.) - close (v.) See also next section. Devoicing When two words are often pronounced together one of their consonants may influence the other. For example voiced /z/ and unvoiced /t/ become where /z/ is devoiced. *The verb suppose normally is /səˈpəʊz/ and its past tense normally is /səˈpəʊzd/. However suppose to and supposed to often are devoiced as /səˈpəʊs tə/ and /səˈpəʊst tə/.John C. Wells. close, 27 August 2012. See also comments by Beatrice Portinary on 27 August 2012 at 10:55, and Lazar Taxon at 19:31 and 22:01. *''Has to'' can be pronounced /hæs tə/.John C. Wells. close, 27 August 2012. Comment by John Wells on 27 August 2012 at 20:2. *Care should be taken to distinguish between "used to" and the past tense of the verb "to use": I used to /juːst tə/ use /juːz/ a laptop'' - He used /juːzd/ his laptop. - He didn't use /juːz/ his new shoes - He used to /juːst tə/ miss the last bus. - I used to /juːst tə/ go there to dance. *The word ''newspaper would normally be pronounced like news and paper /ˈnjuːzpeɪpər/ or /ˈnuːzpeɪpər/. Due to devoicing it can also be pronounced /ˈnjuːspeɪpər/ or /ˈnuːspeɪpər/. Some curious contrasts The first word is pronounced with /s/ and the second with /z/. *abusive - abuser; a'ss'ess - po'ss'ess; abyss - abysmal; crisi's' /ˈkraɪsɪs/ - crise's' /ˈkraɪsiːz/; divisive - divisor; exhibition /ˌ ksɪˈbɪʃən/ - exhibit /ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/; it's - he's, she's; louse - lousy; ;These words don't rhyme *case - phase; goose - choose; geese - cheese; precise - exercise; promise /ˈprɒmɪs/ - compromise Arkan's'''as - Kan's'as /ˈkænzəs/; lease - please; purpose - pose; Variant pronunciations /s/ or /z/ *opposite - transaction /s/ or /z/ *blouse - erase - parse /s/ or /z/ *asthma /ˈæsmə, ˈæzmə / Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1 Spanish Most Spanish speakers cannot pronounce the /z/ sound. They won't even hear the difference between /s/ and /z/. See IPA phoneme /z/ § Spanish L1. Other Romance languages In most Romance languages "s" between vowels is pronounced z. For example Portuguese ''básico is pronounced ˈbaziku, French basique is bazik and Italian basico is ˈbaziko. References See also *Advanced decoding exercises: /s/ vs /z/ *Decoding the letter S *Decoding exercises: "ss" *Decoding exercises: "trans" *Homophones *Silent e External links S~Pronunciation exercises: s vs z s~ - z~